My Take on a Teenage Craze

I know I'm a little behind the times, but considering my sheltered life as a mom, I'm just glad to even know the trends at all. Last summer, I was introduced to the "Twilight" series. I read the first book and found it to be entertaining and well written. I wasn't completely taken with the characters to such an extreme that I had to put my entire home and role as a wife and mother on hold while I devoured the rest of the books. I thought it was nice, and then I moved on.

Then, "Twilight" the movie came out, and people went a little bonkers. Moms who seemed in all other regards to be completely sane were lining up to see the midnight showing and it was all the rage that everyone seemed to be talking about around me. Still, I wasn't motivated to run out and get the rest of the books to see what it was all about.

Early in December, I attended a book club where one of the moms ranted about her outright disgust for the "Twilight" series. She was so offended that it was marketed to youth, written by an L.D.S. author and sold at Deseret Book. I said that I didn't feel offended by the first book and she assured me that the books went downhill from there until the main characters were (and I quote:) "ripping each other's clothes off on every other page."

Now, I was intrigued. Not by my need to read about Bella and Edward ripping each other's clothes off on every other page (which they did not), but by the whole moral debate about whether or not this was appropriate youth and/or L.D.S. fiction. I wanted to make my own informed judgement. The next day, I began the second book. Not only did I thoroughly enjoy it (all except the first 300 or so pages about broken hearts and depression -- that was a bit of a downer), but I also felt the need to continue on to the third book immediately. I devoured and enjoyed the third book. I was a little nervous about beginning the fourth (the whole neglecting the house, husband and kids thing, but I just blamed it all on being preggo, so it was okay). The fourth book was a bit exhausting for me. Lots and lots of details. Being pregnant, I could have done without 350 pages of graphic description of her body being ravaged from the inside out by the thing growing inside her. I found that as long as I frequently skipped ahead to see what was coming next, I was content to keep reading the never ending details because Stephanie Meyer is an amazingly imaginative and talented writer.

Now that I have finished the series I must say I disagree completely with my fellow book club member. I would not be thrilled with my young daughter reading these books. But, I wouldn't mind it terribly either. I'd have to agree with my sister-in-law that it's more about the conversations you have with your kids about reality versus fiction than them just reading the book and absorbing it as a moral compass.

To top it all off, I had such a fun girlie girl day today. Photoguy kept the kiddies (plus, my friend's three-year-old) while three girlfriends and I went to a matinee of "Twilight" and lunch afterwards. I had heard mixed reviews about the quality of the movie, and all I have to say is that it was completely fun! No complaints here. I thought they did an amazing job bringing Meyers' endearing characters to life on the big screen and included a surprising amount of details from such a long book. I had very low expectations since films are never as good as the books. Yet I walked away completely satisfied. I can't remember the last time I did something that seemed so silly/teeny-bopper-ish with a group of girlfriends like that and it felt great. The sushi at Tona afterwards was awesome too. And, Photoguy is so my "Edward" for keeping all the kids all day. Our only regret when it was over, was that we didn't take the time to make matching vampire t-shirts beforehand. Next time.